The local people are friendly and helpful. They have a strong sense of family and community. And they seem to be able to balance work and play.
We purchased a home in a small beach town called Atlántida and settled into our “spot” on the map.

When I lived in Europe I worked as a freelance writer and editor (travel, technical, short stories, poetry), and also published my first children's book.

After Europe, I returned to the States with my husband Doug, where we set up Peel Books, a children's book publishing company in 1986.

In Uruguay, my creative juices started to flow. What a joy! It felt like a “be-here-now” spell was magically helping me to focus on a memoir I had started writing years before.

Writing daily, I took frequent walks along the beach four blocks from our home.

And this year, I finally finished the book—my memoir, The Lullaby Illusion—A Journey of Awakening.

Editor's note: Susan's memoir, The Lullaby Illusion chronicles a portion of Susan's life in the Middle East and Europe. Her true story of personal awakening includes a husband with a double life, surviving the 1974 invasion of Cyprus, and being rescued from a sinking ship.

Before her memoir, Susan, with her husband Doug, sold more than 12 million children's books.